Infusion
by Pyro1588
Summary: Complete! Sheba is kidnapped by two mysterious characters while vacationing with Ivan! Yeah, I suck at summaries Please RR!
1. Chapter 1

Infusion

By Pyro1588

Chapter 1: Kidnapped A/N: I decided to sit down and write another GS fanfic, mainly because I haven't done one for awhile. We'll see where this goes.

It was early summer and the flowers were in full bloom. Down in the meadows, wild flowers painted the landscape in a wondrous pattern of colors. Beautiful, green woods covered the lower slopes of the foothills.  
It was in these woods that a small Jupiter djinn was exploring. She hopped around on the ground, inspecting the various trees and admiring the occasional flower. She was filled with curiosity about nature, and she eagerly took every chance she could to simply explore it.  
After all, there was so much to explore. Right now, she was in a small clearing in the middle of the woods that covered the foothills of Gaia Rock. Gaia Rock itself seemed a large mountain to her, but it was dwarfed by the island on which it rested. And the island of Izumo was quite small compared to the small continents of Hesperia, Atteka and Indra. These were all smaller than Osenia, and Osenia itself was dwarfed by the great continents of Angara and Gondowan.  
Why, it would take her years just to thoroughly explore this island. Who knew how long it would take her to explore the rest of Weyard?  
The thought of all of those lands that still needed to be explored filled this little Djinn with great energy. She quickly busied herself investigating a flowering apple tree.

"Breath, come on back! It's time for dinner"  
The djinn pricked up her ears at the sound of her mistress' voice echoing across the fields. She quickly jumped off the tree and spread her wings.  
As she soared over the woods and fields, she couldn't help but be filled with awe for this wondrous world that she lived in. It was just so vast, and yet so detailed. The world of Weyard stretched for many miles in every direction, but every inch of it still seemed like it had been hand-crafted by some great and marvelous artist.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she caught sight of her mistress waving to her from the ground below. She dived down and landed on her mistress' shoulder, happy to be back and ready to eat.  
"Breath is back, so we can eat now"  
Sheba walked over to where Ivan was preparing to serve dinner. Dinner consisted of a cut of venison turning on a spit over a campfire, fresh fruit from the trees in the woods, and berries that she and Ivan had collected earlier that day. A stream ran nearby, providing them with cool water to drink.

She and Ivan were vacationing on the island of Izumo. They had both decided that a nice, long vacation would be a good way to spend part of the summer. Hammet had offered to house them for a few weeks or even rent them a house in Tolbi, but Ivan had suggested that they could simply go camping for a few weeks. Sheba had readily agreed to the idea. Honestly, she was quite tired of the city. The great outdoors was so much more peaceful.  
They bought their supplies and immediately set out north. Several days later, they arrived at Vale. Ivan dropped in on Isaac and Jenna for a brief visit and returned with the Teleport Lapis. They warped to several different islands before deciding on Izumo. It was just so much more remote than the Apojii islands.

It was three days since they had arrived on Izumo and Sheba was enjoying herself immensely. The opportunities that this vacation offered her were endless. She had purchased a bow from the town of Izumo and was learning to hunt with it. She was able to go berry-picking every day. She could go swimming whenever she wanted. And most of all, she was finally able to spend some time with Ivan.  
They stayed up late every night and talked for hours. They spent the days walking through meadows and forests. Sometimes they would even find a cave to explore. Whatever the days activities were, the nights always involved long talks and simply enjoying each other's company.

One beautiful afternoon, Ivan and Sheba were climbing some small cliffs on the edge of Izumo's mountain range. Ivan had just reached the top of one and was reaching down to help Sheba up when he heard footsteps behind him. He quickly pulled Sheba up over the edge and turned around to investigate this noise.  
As he turned, he felt a sudden impact on his ribcage. He flew back into a wall of rock and crumpled to the ground, coughing and trying to catch his breath.  
"Ivan, help!" He looked up to find Sheba in the grasp of two tall figures. One was a tall, muscular man. The other was a slender woman. Both were wearing black cloaks and had jet-black hair with gray streaks.  
Ivan climbed to his feet and drew his sword. "Let her go or I'll kill you both. Let her go"  
When neither of them showed any sign of dropping Sheba, Ivan rushed at the man and raised his sword.  
When he was about five feet away, the man raised his hand. There was a brief distortion around it, then Ivan felt the same force slam into his chest and throw him back. His sword went spinning off and landed about thirty feet away.  
He stood up again and glared at the man. The man handed Sheba to his partner and stepped forward to face Ivan.  
"Leave now, kid, and you won't get hurt"  
Ivan kept his eyes locked on the man. "What do you want with her? If you need a hostage, take me and let her go"  
"Kid, we need her and we're taking her. Now either leave or suffer the consequences. You've already lost your sword"  
Instead of responding, Ivan simply raised his hand and began to focus. Sparks raced around his hand as he built up energy. Then, without warning, he released it.  
Huge lightning bolts struck all around them. One of them hit the stranger full on the chest, dropping him to his knees.  
"Sorry, kid. Not even an adept can stop me," he said as he stood to his feet.  
"And I said LEAVE!" The same swirling distortion surrounded his hand. Ivan tried to jump aside but it was too late. He was struck in the chest again and sent flying back into the rock. He slumped to the ground and didn't move.

"And stay down! Come on, we have to get back." The stranger joined his partner and they began to walk off further into the mountains, holding Sheba's arms and dragging her along.  
"What do you want with me? Where are you taking me"  
The man scowled at her. "Quiet, girl. We're not going to hurt you. Just come along quietly"  
Sheba closed her eyes and focused. A slight breeze ruffled her hair as she focused her psynergetic powers. Without warning, Sheba threw herself backwards. At the same time, two huge whirlwinds appeared and blew the strangers forward.  
Sheba caught her balance and looked at her enemies. As they began to climb to their feet, Sheba unleashed her djinn. Nine blurred figures shot out at the strangers, each striking them with a different unique power.  
Sheba raised her hands in the air, quickly trying to summon Thor. As the strangers turned around, the man saw what was about to happen. "No"  
He slammed his fists together and a shockwave flew out. Sheba opened her eyes to find all nine of her djinn lying on the ground. The man rushed at her and picked her up by the neck.  
"Fine. If you won't come quietly, I guess you'll come unconsciously." He tightened his grip on the sides of her neck. Sheba felt his fingers clamp down on the arteries in her neck. She suddenly felt faint. She tried once more to break free, only to black out and fall limp.

A/N: Well, what do you think? I decided that it was time to write another gs fic, and this is what I came up with. I finally have a little free time again, and I'm hoping to complete this one. Please please please review. Even if you only type up one sentence, it still lets me know that people are reading this. Thanks )

Pyro1588 http:www.weyard. 12:55 PM 3 pages 137 lines 1419 words 


	2. Chapter 2

Infusion 

By Pyro1588

A/N: Yes, it's been awhile since I updated this. I got distracted and no one was reviewing anyway. I'm willing to give this another shot, though. Once again, if you're reading this, PLEASE REVIEW! I have no other way of knowing if anyone's even reading.

Ivan came to still slumped against the rock. He pulled himself up off the ground and looked around. All of Sheba's djinn were lying on the ground unconscious.  
Ivan glanced up at the sky. Judging by the position of the sun, he'd been out for a few hours.  
"Damn!" he yelled. "Dammit! They got away."  
He wanted to curl up on the ground and cry, but he knew that wouldn't bring Sheba back.  
As he ran over to where his sword had landed, he called her djinn.  
"Guys, wake up! We have to go rescue her!"  
One by one, the djinn pulled themselves up off the ground. Soon, all nine were standing and alert.  
Ivan picked up his sword and waved the djinn over. He kneeled down in the dirt and traced his fingers around a large footprint. Looking up, he observed a trail of them leading further into the mountains.  
"Well, at least it'll be easy to track them."  
Followed closely by Sheba's djinn, Ivan dashed off into the mountains, intent on finding her and her kidnappers.

"You've prepared the injection?"  
Sheba slowly regained consciousness lying in a semi-reclined position, strapped to a bed. She started to open her eyes, but shut them again when she heard someone talking.  
"Yes. I heated the solution until the crystals became amorphous. They should absorb into the bloodstream and circulate through the whole body."  
"How long does it take?"  
"About three minutes."  
"How do we know what will be enhanced?"  
"The crystals bond with over-active cells, so whichever of her cells become hyperactive after we inject it will be the ones that get enhanced."  
"What's safe to enhance?"  
"Nothing. This is completely untested."  
"No, I meant for us. She's a prisoner. We don't want to enhance her muscles or her fighting skill and then have her massacre us."  
"Oh, I understand. Well, we could inject her now while she's sleeping. When she wakes up, the sudden spike in brain activity will cause the crystals to bond with her brain cells. That way she'll get enhanced mental facilities, but no combat skills."  
"But she's an adept!"  
"Sir, Psynergy is controlled through the upper spine and hands."  
"Oh. Okay then. If you're sure it's safe."  
"Eh, it should be."

Sheba remained motionless. She didn't know what was happening, but letting them know that she had heard that conversation probably wasn't a good idea.  
Someone grabbed her arm and before she knew what was happening, a needle was stuck in her shoulder. She felt a tingling sensation as liquid was injected into her skin.  
The tingling traveled down her arm and up into her shoulder. A minute later, her other arm was tingling. Soon, her entire body felt like it was being pricked all over.  
She had managed to hold still so far but she knew she couldn't take this much longer. She began to focus her psynergy. It took her a minute to get up the power to cast because she couldn't move her hands.  
The man that had injected her suddenly noticed sparks racing around the captive. Then she opened her eyes and saw him. Sheba flashed him a smug grin before unleashing a well-aimed Shine Plasma. The two men standing there were blown back by the sudden barrage of lightning.  
The restraints holding Sheba to the bed burned through the instant the bolts hit them. Sheba jumped up and walked over to the two smoking would-be captors.  
One of them was dressed like a doctor. He was still holding the syringe. As Sheba leaned down, he opened his eyes and looked at her.  
"No! Now her Psynergy will spike!" He coughed once and went limp. Sheba bent down and felt his wrist. Dead.

The other man jumped up and ran out of the room.  
"Stop!" Sheba yelled.  
She began to chase him and then dropped to the floor. Something was wrong. Her head felt like it was pulsing. Her vision lost color and then blurred. She felt like she had a fever. Her entire back was burning up. She tried to pull herself up, only to fall again.  
"No. Ivan!"  
She blacked out.

Ivan ran along the trail as fast as he could. He knew Sheba was depending on him. As he ran over the crest of a hill, he stopped dead, stunned by what he saw. Here, on Gaia Rock in the furthest reaches of Weyard, was the largest collection of connected buildings he had ever seen.  
"Wow. Whoever is behind this is well-equipped. Well, let's go."  
Ivan ran down the slope and towards the facility, intent on finding Sheba.

Sheba woke up suddenly, still lying on the floor. Eight armed men where standing around her, swords drawn.  
She leapt to her feet and began charging. She could feel the energy racing through her, stronger than it had ever been before.  
She unleashed it.

Ivan stopped short and stared. As he watched, one of the buildings lit up, almost like there was a lightning storm inside it. Then, without warning, all the windows in it blew out. Shattered glass flew through the air, accompanied by huge bolts of electricity.  
Ivan started to run again.

Sheba stared in wonder as the smoke cleared, her hands still raised in the air. She had just unleashed the most powerful electric spell she had ever seen. Not even a thunderstorm held that much energy.  
"Quick! Drop her!"  
Sheba heard the all-too-familiar sound of a Sleep Psynergy. She tried to turn around but hit the floor, unconscious.

A/N: Sorry if this is a little sub-par. I'm learning a new keyboard and it kinda steals my attention. Anyway, PLEASE review. I want to know if anyone's reading this. Thanks!

Pyro1588  
http/www.weyard. PM  
3 pages  
120 lines  
1011 words


	3. Chapter 3

Infusion 

By Pyro1588

A/N: Cool. I'm getting reviews again! Thanks guys.

Sheba woke up in a drug-enduced stupor. As her mind began to clear slightly, she began to hear people talking. After a few minutes, the fog lifted enough to where she could understand some of the voices.  
"Great. Just great. Now we have a super-enhanced monster on our hands. What are we going to do?"  
"Don't panic. She's asleep now and we're going to keep her that way until we can come up with some sort of plan."  
"I say we kill her now. We don't want to wait around for something to happen."  
"You're probably right. At any rate, we'll keep her sedated."  
Sheba lifted her head and clenched her hand, trying to cast something. Anything! She didn't care so long as it would get her out of here. She had just managed a few sparks when she dropped from exhaustion. She slowly drifted back to a comatose sleep.

Ivan had reached the bottom of the hill and was leaning against the side of one of the buildings. He tried to catch his breath as he peaked around the corner.  
"Good, looks like it's clear."  
He slipped around the corner and ran towards the entrance of what looked like the main building. It was locked.  
Ivan walked over to a window. It was also locked.  
"Fine then."  
Ivan clenched his fist and formed a small ball of lightning and slammed it into the window. The glass shattered and flew inside, scattering fragments all over the floor.  
Ivan glanced around. He needed to find cover fast before someone came to inspect the noise. There were three doors in the room. The first led back outside. The other two led off to the left and right. Ivan tried the door on the right. To his relief, it opened. He quickly ducked inside and shut the door behind him.

He found himself in the guards' headquarters. There were several benches along the left and right walls. At the far end, there was a desk with a sleeping guard at it. Behind him was a door that presumably led to the lockers or the armory.  
Ivan raised his hand and cast a light Sleep spell on the guard, just to make sure he stayed asleep until Ivan reached him.  
Ivan crouched down and quietly paced across the room, slipping around the desk and behind the guard. He drew his dagger and held it at the guard's throat. Reaching forward, he clamped his hand across the snoring man's open mouth.

The guard woke with a start and instinctively struggled to get free. Ivan held him still and moved his blade onto the guard's throat.  
"Quiet now. Don't make a scene."  
The guard stopped struggling and held still.  
"That's better. I'm looking for a girl that was brought in here earlier this afternoon."  
He released his grip on the man's mouth so he could talk, but kept his hand near in case his captive decided to try yelling. "She's being held in the infusion lab. I heard someone say that they tried the experime-uh, that she's being held there."  
"What experiment?"  
"Nothing. I made a mistake."  
"What experiment?" Ivan gripped the man's throat and started to squeeze.  
"I told you I slipped up!" The man squirmed under Ivan's grip, trying to breathe but not wanting to test the knife.  
"What experiment?" Ivan slowly pressed the blade into the man's skin until a trickle of blood appeared.  
"Fine! Okay. It's an experiment with some kind of concentrated Psynergy. That's all I know."  
"You're using my friend for an experiment?" The rage in Ivan's voice was unmistakable.  
The guard smirked. "Ah, did we hurt your poor little girlfriend?"  
Ivan clamped his hand down on the guard's esophagus and slid the knife around the man's neck, cutting a deep gash. The guard tried to scream and break free, but Ivan held him in the chair. After a couple seconds, the thrashing subsided and the guard fell limp.

Ivan stuffed his body under the desk and walked over to the door behind it. He cast Reveal and glanced through the now-semitransparent door. He didn't see anyone on the other side of it. He opened it slowly and peered in. The room looked clear, so he pushed the door open and walked in.

The room was obviously an armory. Swords of all sizes and descriptions lined the walls, along with many different bows.  
One rack in particular drew Ivan's attention. It was lined with little glass tubes. Each one was about five inches long and three-quarters of an inch wide. They all had a metal cap on one end and were filled with different solutions. Some contained a thin, gray liquid. Others had a thick, green syrup in them. The one that Ivan grabbed was filled with a dark black fluid.

Ivan carefully inspected one but couldn't find any kind of a trigger mechanism. Not having any use for a device he didn't know how to use, Ivan put it back on the shelf. As he was walking away, he heard it tip over. He turned just in time to see it fall from the shelf and shatter on the floor. As the black liquid spilled on the floor, a large plume of thick, black smoke hissed out of the puddle.

Ivan heard someone behind another door.  
"What was that?"  
Ivan jumped into the shadows behind a weapon locker and cast Cloak, vanishing into the darkness.  
The door opened and a guard walked in. He ran into the smoke cloud and checked the shelf of vials. Reassured that they were still there, he stepped back.  
"Is everything all right in there?" a voice from behind the door asked.  
The guard took another step back and coughed. "Yeah. Looks like someone was careless when they put a smoke tube back. It tipped over and fell on the floor."

The guard took another step back, putting himself about four feet away from Ivan. Ivan saw his chance and stepped forward. He quickly cast Mind Read, trying to find out were the "infusion lab" he'd heard about was located.

The guard felt a tingle at the back of his head and stepped forward, not knowing what was happening. Ivan drew his knife and followed. As his Cloak dispelled, he reached forward and grabbed the guard. He tried to clamp his hand down on the man's mouth, but he wasn't fast enough. The guard let out a short yelp before Ivan stabbed him in the throat.

The door opened and another guard stepped out. "Hey, are you all right?"  
Then he noticed Ivan. "Intruder!"  
All at once, four more men were in the doorway. Ivan ran to the shelf with the vials and grabbed one, hoping to delay them with another smoke cloud. As he threw it, however, he noticed that it wasn't the same black goop. As it hit the floor, gray liquid splashed everywhere. A split second later, there was a loud "BANG" and a dull red explosion. Glass fragments flew everywhere. The two guards in front were cut to ribbons. Ivan threw another gray tube, finishing off the other two. Ivan grabbed the last three gray tubes and doubled back.

Back in the first room, Ivan ran across and took the other door. To his dismay, he found a huge network of hallways. Rather than try and find his way through this maze, he found the nearest unlocked door. He quietly stepped in and looked around. About eight feet away, a man was sitting at a desk and writing. Ivan quickly closed the gap and grabbed him, managing to keep him quiet.  
"Gotcha! Now show me the way to the infusion lab or I'll have to cut you open and look for the directions inside your head." Holding his captive guide by the throat, Ivan forced him to show the way to the lab. Ten minutes later, the guard opened a door and walked in, Ivan's knife still at his throat. Ivan looked across the room and saw Sheba strapped to a bed, obviously drugged.  
"You bastard! What did you do to her?"  
He loosened his grip on the man's throat ever so slightly. "They infused her, intending to make her smarter. But something went wrong and she enhanced her psynergy. We've had to keep her drugged so she won't kill us all!"  
"If I find out that you're lying, I WILL come back for you. She'd better be okay."

Ivan walked his captive over to the wall and slammed the man's face into it. He set his unconscious victim on the floor and ran over to Sheba. He found her in a drugged sleep, but otherwise unharmed. As he struggled to wake her, he heard the door open behind him.  
"Quick, there he is!"  
Ivan turned just in time to see a guard rushing at him. Ivan timed the man's approach, jumping out of the way at the last second and dealing a swift chop to the guard's neck. As he landed on his feet, he jumped to the side and hit another charging guard, dropping him to the floor. The leader of the group sent another guard at Ivan, then turned to a man behind him.  
"We need to sedate him. He's too powerful!"  
The other man, obviously a pencil-pushing assistant pulled out a syringe. "My boss told me to hang onto this. I think it's a sedative!"  
He handed the syringe to the leader, who quickly pulled back and whipped it at Ivan.  
Ivan felt a sting in the back of his upper arm. He reached back and removed the now empty syringe. "Ah crap!" He tossed it aside and continued fighting.

The leader stepped back and smiled. "Now we just have to keep him busy for a couple minutes."  
As Ivan continued fighting, he began to feel strange. His muscles began to feel hot and then to freeze up. He kept hitting the guards as hard as he could, but it was getting harder and harder to move. He had to throw two of the gray tubes to keep them back. Finally, he dropped to floor, unable to move. The leader walked up to him and turned him over. Ivan's labored panting was audible across the room.

"Good. He's down. Come here and tie him up. We have a lot to do to him and his girlfrie-Uhkkhhh!"  
Before he had seen what was happening, Ivan's hand had shot up and was now crushing his windpipe. As he struggled to get free, Ivan grinned at him and stood up. He held his strangling captive at arm's length above the floor and clenched his hand down. There was a crumpling noise as the man's trachea collapsed. Ivan dropped the writhing form to the floor and stared at the guards. They were stunned and didn't know what to do.

Finally, one of them screamed and rushed towards him. The rest followed close behind. Ivan turned into a blur as he flew around the room, striking at everything in his path. He couldn't understand why he was moving so fast now.

After dropping most of the guards, the last three ran out of the room. One of them stopped outside the door, threw a green tube in, and slammed the door shut. Ivan tried to catch the tube before it hit the floor, but he was too late. As soon as it shattered, a large, green cloud began to form. Ivan tried the door, but it was locked. He began to choke on the gas. It was like no matter how hard he breathed out, there was no room for air in his lungs. As he ran over to try and untie Sheba, he fell to the floor and didn't move.

A/N: Well, what do you think? What will happen to Sheba now? Thanks so much to the people who reviewed this story. I think I'm going to wrap this one up in the next chapter. Please review! Pretty please?

Pyro1588 6/30/05  
10:10 PM  
4 pages  
200 lines  
2021 words


	4. Chapter 4

Infusion 

By Pyro1588

A/N: Well, I finally figured out why the formatting in this fic is getting messed up. I guess doesn't let you put URLs or various other characters in fics anymore. Kinda sucks, but there's not much I can do about it. The address for my fanfiction site is now in my profile.

Ivan slowly opened his eyes and looked around. The room was rapidly spinning around, with everything blurred beyond recognition. Ivan shut his eyes again and groaned, trying not to throw up. After a few minutes, the dizziness began to subside.  
He slowly opened his eyes and found his nausea controllable. As his eyes slowly began to focus, he looked around the room and found Sheba strapped down about six feet away. Her breathing was shallow and her skin was white.

"Sheba! Wake up!"  
She began to stir. Finally, she opened her eyes. She gagged, coughed, and spewed out a small bit of vomit. She was obviously trying to hold the rest down.  
Ivan watched all this in fear. "Are you all right? Did they hurt you?"  
She slowly opened her eyes and looked to her left. "Ivan? Is that you?"  
"Yes. Are you all right?"  
Sheba squinted. "Yeah, I think so. How'd you get here?"  
"I came to rescue you! You didn't think I would leave you here, did you?"  
"No. Actually, I haven't had much time to think about anything. I've only been conscious for an hour or two. I think they've kept me drugged."  
"What did they do to you?"  
"Well, I heard a lot of talk about 'enhancing' me, and then they injected me with something. I think they where trying to make me smarter, but something went wrong. I broke loose and started fighting. After I killed my guard and another guy got away, I started to feel weird. It was like the worst fever I ever had. I passed out from it and woke up surrounded. I tried to cast a Shine Plasma, but it came out super-powerful. After that, they dropped me with a Sleep Psynergy. I think I might have woken up once more, but I'm not sure. How did they capture you?"

Ivan was about to answer when the door opened. Sheba recognized the man who walked in as the one who had escaped after she had broken free. Now she was able to get a better look at him. He was in his mid-twenties and dressed in a white lab coat. He had the same long black hair with gray streaks as the two who had captured Sheba.  
"Well well, are we both awake now?"  
Sheba scowled and nodded. Ivan just glared and growled.  
"Good. I suppose your both wondering just what in the world is going on here. Am I right?"  
Sheba nodded. Ivan just kept glaring.  
"Good. Allow me to enlighten you. First off, my name is Douglass. I'm the director of this facility. And you two are?"  
"I'm Sheba and this is Ivan."  
Ivan snarled at the man and yelled. "You had better tell us just what the heck is going on and let us go!"  
Douglass smiled. "Settle down. First, let me tell you just what this facility is for. About three years ago, a few of my fellow scientists wanted to know what gave Adepts their power. I was an Adept at the time, so I offered to be a research subject. Six months of testing revealed an abnormal liquid present in the blood of Adepts. We named it 'Tricillium' and continued researching its properties. It turns out that it is a very volatile chemical with that produces large amounts of energy when broken down."

"Further research led us to conclude that an Adept's Psynergetic power is fueled by the tricillium in his or her bloodstream, which is broken down as a part of normal metabolism. That explains why Adepts must wait so long for their Psynergy to recharge, and why Psynergy is affected by things like being sick or tired. Unlike normal digestion and metabolism, the tricillium doesn't produce heat when broken down; it produces another type of energy that we don't know much about, other than it is what is actually expended when Psynergy is used."

As Ivan started to slowly work his hands out of the bindings, he decided to goad this guy along and keep him busy, not to mention he was curious. "But where do Adepts get this 'tricillium?' Is it something in the food we eat that only occurs in a few places?"  
"That was our assumption at first. However, we took over two thousand food samples from all over Weyard and couldn't find any tricillium in any of them. We did, however, find incredibly small amounts ON the samples. A brief investigation revealed that the air in Weyard is literally filled with tiny, microscopic bits of tricillium dust. It's just that only Adepts are able to absorb it."

Ivan could feel the rope starting to give a little. "Why is it only Adepts that can absorb it?"  
"As far as we can tell, it has something to do with their cell structure. We weren't able to identify exactly WHAT in their cells allowed them to absorb it, so we turned our attention to another matter: trying to change the cell structure in a creature so that it could absorb the tricillium. We thought that if we could replicate it artificially, it would help us to understand why it occurs naturally."

"Our first task was to obtain a more substantial amount of tricillium. Trying to screen it out of the air didn't work because the particles are no larger than average dust. It was obvious that we needed a source that readily occurs in nature. We found one. I'm sure you are both familiar with 'Psynergy stones' like the one in Vale?"  
They both nodded. "Good. Well, it turns out that those stones can be found in nature. They are rare, but they can be found. We located them in Airs, Magma, Aqua, and Gaia Rock. While the first three were excellent sources of tricillium, Gaia Rock is just phenomenal. Izumo's bedrock is about four percent tricillium, and Gaia Rock has veins of tricillium amounting to sixteen percent of its total size. Large deposits of tricillium were just waiting to be harvested. Because of this, we moved our entire operation here."

Ivan nodded as he started to twist his wrists around.  
"We eventually managed to purify the tricillium and get it into a form the body can accept. We first tried injecting animals, but we couldn't tell if it worked or not because they didn't have the instincts to use any Psynergy. So we got two volunteers and injected them. Their names were Christopher and Jen. Right after they were injected, there was a bandit raid. They both had to fight for their lives. Jen fought hand-to-hand and Christopher used a new technique he learned called 'Chi.' As soon as the bandits were fought off, they both collapsed. After an hour, they woke up and were fine. It was then that we noticed a change. Jen had become incredibly fast and Christopher's Chi attack could blast things apart."

Ivan got his wrists twisted around and started loosening the knot. "Were they the two that attacked us?"  
Douglass nodded. "Yes, we eventually decided that we needed to try injecting an Adept. Christopher saw you two camping nearby. He observed you and noticed you were Adepts. After a little discussion, we decided to kidnap Sheba for the experiment. It would have gone well if she hadn't used Psynergy right after she was injected." Douglass frowned disapprovingly at her.

Ivan had been seething before, but now he was furious. "Of course she did! You kidnapped her! What was she supposed to do? Let you experiment on her like an animal! I swear, if you touch her again, I'll tear your arms off!" Ivan threw himself against the ropes holding him down, but they held fast. Sheba looked shocked.  
"Settle down or I'll have you sedated! Anyway, the tricillium bonds with the first cells that become overactive. That's why Christopher's Chi became so powerful and why Jen became so fast and strong. The cells behind their respective strengths became very overactive during the bandit attack. Of course, when Sheba cast Shine Plasma, she not only killed one of our scientists, but she also super-energized her Psynergetic capabilities. When she regained consciousness and tried to cast another Plasma Psynergy, she blew up a large part of the building she was in. Fortunately, we managed to subdue her and strap her to a bed with a Psynergy-inhibitor attached to it. Shortly thereafter, we found Ivan playing around with some of our experimental weapons. My security chief nailed him with what he thought what was anesthetic. Unfortunately, it was infusible tricillium. Ivan's muscles soon underwent the same change as Jen's. I showed up just in time and disabled him and now here we are."

Ivan almost managed to get his left hand out of the knot. "Why didn't you just try infusing yourself? You said you're an Adept."  
"Because we had already tried it with an earlier form of the tricillium and it didn't work. All I got out of it was the black and gray hair. By the way, the hair was because Christopher, Jen and I all had our heads shaved as part of a preparation process. The black and gray hair was a side effect of that. Anyway, the infusion didn't work on me, so we decided to get a fresh, 'clean' Adept that hadn't undergone any experiments."

Ivan got his hands out of the rope and quickly began to silently burn through the ropes holding him to the bed. "So what are you going to do with us now?"  
"Well, we still have a lot of experiments to run. We plan to keep you hear and use you as a sacrifice for science."  
He smiled at them. "After all, you make such a nice pair of experiments."

Ivan yelled and jumped off the table, landing in a crouch. He pounced on Douglass and began to slap him repeatedly across the face. "Going to use Sheba for an experiment, huh? Over my dead body! Or maybe even yours!"  
Douglass screamed and tried to break free, but Ivan held him down and kept slapping him.  
Sheba looked over to the door and yelled, "Ivan, watch out!"  
Ivan did a quick backflip just in time to avoid a powerful Chi attack from Christopher. The attack hit Douglass and he laid still.

"So, you're free again little punk?" He unleashed another Chi. Ivan flipped to the side and dodged it.  
"So you want to dodge, eh? Good, because I could use the target practice!"  
He kept blasting away and Ivan kept dodging every one.  
After a minute of this, Ivan rushed over to the corner where his possessions were and retrieved his Masamune. As Christopher threw another Chi, Ivan held up his sword and curved it around in a graceful arc, sending the attack back at the attacker. Christopher snarled and pointed his hand at Sheba, who was struggling to get free. Ivan yelped and jumped in the way, taking the blast in the chest. He stood up and shook his head, slightly dazed. Before Christopher could see what was happening, Ivan had thrown his sword across the room and it had lodged firmly in Christopher's chest. He stumbled backwards, coughed up some blood, and fell on his back, dead.

Sheba screamed as Christopher breathed his last. It was the first time she had seen a human stabbed to death in battle. All the other times, they had just disabled them.  
Ivan ran over and retrieved his sword. As he ran over to cut her free, he was dropped to his knees by a blow from behind.

He jumped forward and flipped, spinning around to face Jen. "You bastard! You killed him!" "He tried to kill me and her! I did it in self-defense."  
Jen didn't answer, but just snarled at Ivan and rushed at him again. Ivan swung as she ran by, but she rolled under and his blade met air. He dropped it on the floor, knowing that it would be useless against her.  
As she dashed again, he jumped and swung down. She rolled to the side and jumped up. As Ivan landed, she swung and connected with the side of Ivan's head. He picked himself up and ducked backwards, barely avoiding another swing. "So, you want to play fast? Zephyr! Go!" There was a glow as Ivan unleashed the djinn, something his captors knew nothing about. Ivan became a blur as he circled her again and again, hitting her each time. She kept trying to block, but the attacks came from everywhere.  
A moment later, Ivan reappeared as Zephyr's effects wore off. "Jen! This is your last chance to run. Leave now or I'll have to fight to kill. You can't win!"  
Jen just snorted and dashed again.  
"Haze! Go!"  
There was another glow and a puff of smoke as Ivan disappeared into thin air. Jen turned this way and that, trying to find her opponent. Behind her, Ivan's masamune disappeared. Sheba saw Jen turn once again, still trying to locate Ivan. "Jen! Run now, before it's too late!" Sheba yelled.  
But Jen ignored her. She made one final spin before she screamed and dropped. Ivan reappeared behind her, his blade reluctantly planted between her shoulder blades. Ivan drew it out, a strange, sad look covering his features. He ran over and cut Sheba loose from her restraints. She jumped up and ran over to the corner, retrieving her possessions. She held out the Teleport Lapis. "Okay Ivan, let's go."

They were about to teleport when a dozen guards appeared in the door. Douglass picked himself up off the floor, almost unable to stand. He pointed at them. "Ki-kill them!" Sheba tossed Ivan the Lapis and then extended her hand forward, palm up. Bolts of lightning shot out and bodies went flying.  
A large lightning ball flew out the door and down the hallway. Douglass saw it fly. "Oh no! The tricillium storehouse!" He turned to Ivan and Sheba but they were already gone.

Ivan and Sheba arrived in the town of Izumo. As Sheba slowly opened her eyes, there was a thunderous explosion to the east. They both ducked under some trees, hoping to avoid any rubble.  
As Ivan set his pack down, he suddenly found himself being clutched by a sobbing Sheba. He slowly closed his arms around her and let her cry.  
"sob We-we killed so sob many!" She cried for several minutes before Ivan could think of a reply.  
"Yes, but they chose to fight. I know that killing is horrible, but sometimes it just has to be done."  
"Bu-but they were so sob yo-young."  
For the next hour, Sheba mourned and Ivan comforted her. After she stopped crying, she realized how exhausted she was and was content to fall asleep in Ivan's arms.

For the next week, Ivan and Sheba recuperated in the forest, just resting and talking. Finally, eight days after the incident, Sheba asked the question that had been nagging on her mind for days. "Ivan, thy did you come after me yourself instead of getting help first?"  
Ivan looked up from the bush he was inspecting. "I didn't want to take the chance." "But why not?"  
Ivan pulled at something, then stood up. "Because I love you. I have for a long time now. I just couldn't let anything happen to you before I got a chance to tell you."  
There were tears in Sheba's eyes. "Oh Ivan..."  
He bent down to the bush again, picked a bright, red flower out of it and, smiling, handed it to her. "Here. It's a rose bush."  
She took it and stared at it in awe. After a moment of silence, she pinned it on her shirt. Looking up at Ivan, she smiled at him. "I love you too."  
Ivan smiled, not sure what to do now. Sheba took care of that. She tackled him to the ground and kissed him deeply. After a few seconds, she broke off and smiled at him. "I love you more than anything, Ivan."  
He turned his head and realized they had landed in a patch of violets. He picked one and held it up to her light-purple eyes and grinned. "You're beautiful."  
She smiled back and kissed him again.

THE END

A/N: Well, what'd ya think? Sorry that I wrapped it up so soon, but my life is probably going to get even busier soon and I wanted to make sure I got this finished. I've also been having trouble with my wrists between computer, piano, and violin.  
Anyway, if I can, I want to write a retelling of a George MacDonald story. Well, we'll see where it goes.  
And yeah, I tried to get some decent windshipping in, but you can be the judge of that. So please review and let me know!

Pyro1588  
Homepage: see profile

7.8.05  
10:28 PM  
5 pages  
276 lines  
2872 words


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